Oscar contenders

Academy Award nominations will be announced Jan. 10, 2013. Click through to see the leading contenders in the top categories.

Claire Folger/Warner Bros.

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BEST PICTURE

A hard category to predict because the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, in the interest of broader representation, keeps fiddling with the rules. Academy voters are now asked to rank their preferences. The number of eventual nominees — minimum of five, max of 10 — is determined by how many movies are listed first on ballots. So here are my five picks (in alphabetical order) and a couple more in case the number inflates

Best picture contender, "Argo": Relevant to our political times.

Photo: Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in a scene from "Argo."

Claire Folger/Warner Bros.

2of42

BEST PICTURE

A hard category to predict because the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, in the interest of broader representation, keeps fiddling with the rules. Academy voters are now asked to rank their preferences. The number of eventual nominees — minimum of five, max of 10 — is determined by how many movies are listed first on ballots. So here are my five picks (in alphabetical order) and a couple more in case the number inflates